December 31, 2008 by kim.

Our cute little kitty Matilda loves to eat our Christmas trees. Never mind that they are plastic. She loves them anyway. If we see her starting to gnaw on the branches, we will gently but firmly discourage her. That is, if we catch her. All bets are off once we go to bed.

I woke up one morning last week to see that the little Christmas tree in the piano room was knocked over. This is what it looks like when it is lit and standing up (take note that I actually do play the piano in there once in a while):

This is what it looked like when I came into the room that morning:

Angle 1

Angle 2

Angle 3

Now for some creative pictures:

Oooo

Ahhh

Very nice!

Okay. That’s enough.

Happily, none of the ornaments were broken so I stood the tree up again for kitty’s entertainment. So far, there has been no repeat performance.

So far.

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December 24, 2008 by kim.

Pictures of our holiday home:

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December 22, 2008 by kim.

Comedienne: Boy! Was it cold today!
Audience: HOW COLD WAS IT?
Comedienne: It was so cold that some guy went to open his car door which had frozen shut and pulled the handle right off!
Audience: HAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA (people rolling in the aisles)

Funny, but true.

Chris was going to drive me to work last Monday. It had rained the night before and late night temperatures dropped into the single digits. You know what happens when that happens, right? Water freezes. Water all over the car freezes. The car was a big cube of ice. Doors were frozen shut. Chris was working on opening the driver’s side door, when… SNAP! He held up the handle to show me and I stared at him, dumbfounded. I didn’t even know that could happen!

Look - here is what the door handle is supposed to look like (this is the passenger side):

This is what it looks like without the handle:

Here is the poor handle:

Luckily, he was able to open my door (leaving the handle intact) so I could push open his door. We got on the road and traffic was so backed up that he just took me to the train. So much for that. He then went to get an estimate on fixing the car so he wouldn’t have to climb in through my side all the time. $185 (plus tax). $60 for the part and $125 for labor.

He was able to get it fixed last Friday. They also happened to find a battery post that was close to falling off and brake pads that needed cleaning (what all this had to do with a door handle, I’ll never know), making the total somewhere around $250.

Yay. I just love winter.

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December 16, 2008 by kim.

by Simone Elkeles…
Perfect Chemistry…
Es un libro, yo!
It’s a book.

It is, too (and a racy one, at that)! Chris was recently hired by Simone Elkeles (author of teen novels) to write, direct, and edit a rap video to promote her new book, ‘Perfect Chemistry’. You can see the video on her website (www.simoneelkeles.net) or on YouTube.

Look:

It was the only one on the shelf and I bought it! Sold out at Books-A-Million!

There is a funny little story about that rap, too…

Chris and I were recording the demo in his office one night. We had headphones on and were rapping at the top of our lungs with a lot of gusto. We didn’t really think we were being all that loud, but we couldn’t actually hear how loud we really were (what with the music blaring though our headphones and all).

In the middle of our rap, the phone rang. It was our landlord (he and his wife live below us - really nice people). He very delicately asked us if everything was okay, because it sounded like we were fighting. Chris laughed, apologized, and explained that we were rapping. I can only imagine what it sounded like coming through the floorboards!

Check your local library,
Hot on the shelf,
Just open up a book,
Enrich yourself -

READ!

Posted in Entertainment | 1 Comment »

December 14, 2008 by kim.

Does that headline not infer that I am the dog? If you read it really fast, that is what it seems to say. How often have we seen and heard that “a dog is man’s best friend”? There is a dog in the picture – does he have a job and the means to buy these gifts to ensure that he remains at the top of his master’s list in the best friend category? No. Hence, the task of gift giving falls to me. Hence –

I am the dog.

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December 9, 2008 by kim.

A couple of interesting WI billboards for your entertainment:

*Bob fish (Car dealership) - Sorry Bob - that’s a dolphin (a mammal), not a fish.

*Jose’s Blue Sombrero (Mexican restaurant) - I saw this racy billboard on the way up to my parent’s house and didn’t have my camera ready. Dangit! I was reading it, and once the words sunk in, we’d already passed it. I was determined to catch it on the way back to Chicago, so I kept turning around in my seat to look for it. Got it! I was able to blow it up at home and see what it actually said, which is what I thought it said, but wasn’t certain because it seemed sort of dirty.

Tsk, tsk!

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December 4, 2008 by kim.

Just thought I’d share a couple of pictures I took downtown using my handy dandy iPhone:

Tree in Daley Plaza

Untitled sculpture by Pablo Picasso

Building across from Daley Plaza

Stunning!

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December 1, 2008 by kim.

Most wall sockets that I’ve seen in the many apartments I’ve lived in have been installed sideways or upside down. I’m hoping that there is a darn good reason for this because I don’t want to be driven crazy for nothing.

I have a cute little night light that I wanted to plug in for Christmas that necessitated a vertical socket. The light is reminiscent of those old Christmas tree bubble lights that were popular in the 1950s and 60s. I wandered around the apartment two or three times trying to find a socket that was installed right side up. I had a hell of a time. Most of the sockets look like this:

Or this:

I finally stumbled upon one hidden in the corner:

Oh well – at least Matilda will be able to see when she pees!

Posted in Observation | 2 Comments »